# 23 WOW!

This has been a very interesting journey. I said I couldn't do it, and at times I couldn't. At least not without the help of a more knowledgable, more computer savoy fellow worker. But I did get through all 22 other "things." Some items were much more difficult, and interesting than others. Some I just didn't really get the "hang of." The avitars were cute and fun to play with for a time, but I didn't see that they would really be of much value to me at HCPL. (Of course, the position I have held here, that of being behind the counter and not at the Information Desk, did not lend itself to helping anyone use the available resources. We were discouraged from using time to help anyone, and not do the job we were assigned to do.) However, it was good to know what is out there, and accessible for the patrons. Since I am one of the patrons, I now know what is available to me, as well. I did notice one thing that I would rather not have happened as a result of some of the exercises. My e-mail was overcrowded with "updates" that were totally unwanted. This would be a good thing, I guess, if I really wanted to subscribe to the topics/subjects as a patron and wanted the "latest" comment/blog from multiple people from around the globe. If I had the time, it would have been much more interesting to investigate each of these responses. But, time marched on, and I was squeezing this in, whenever I could grab a moment, often, on Tuesday nights, if we had a spare moment or two. I really need to use something multiple times in order to really thoroughly understand and feel comfortable using; you know: practice, practice, and more practice.

# 22 DOWNLOADABLE MEDIA

LIBRIVOX was easy to get to from our link. It showed latest news, new releases, links to catalog, & forums, how tos for listening & volunteering and much more. I thought the idea of being able to volunteer to read/record your voice reading chapters from books in public domain very interesting. There were also RSS feed links to community podcasts, book podcasts and news releases available. Something for everyone.

WOWIO was also easy to link to. I did however like the set up better in that right up front they showed catagories for selection, such as: title, author, ISBN, keyword ect. This appealled to me. They had additional features such as: featured publisher, featured book, book of the month, staff favorites, the top 10 books . All of this was visable from the first screen. It seemed to me that you had more of a selection on that one screen than in LIBRIVOX's opening screen. Since I am very careful as to which authors/publishers that I want to read/listen to, being able to access this information quickly, right up front was a great feature.

#21 PODCAST

I went to podcast.net. Items of interest fell under Religion & Philosophy ( christianity, faith, spirituality ect), and Arts( books, stories I media), and Learning & Instruction. This one was quite extensive, but I added it to my blogline, as a RSS feed through cut and paste. (With some help from a co-worker. I felt that the Learning & Instruction podcast would benefit the librarians the most, as many of the questions asked regularly would fit under this umbrella. It was very easy to get into podcast.net, whereas the other two choices given required more from the user. They were not upfront with the various catagories visable, like podcast was.

# 20 YOUTUBE

Since I am an avid baseball fan, I first went to Sports as a catagory. After searching through several pages of various sports that I had no interest in, I then searched for baseball. Here again, I went throught several pages of baseball from around the league, world and comedy of errors. Then, I finally found the one I would like to view. It was: Houston Astros Baseball Fan Video. The originator of the video put together a series of pictures/home video from various games he had attended in the past. I really enjoyed looking at the statues, close-ups of players, action shots, fans and their different shirts, and all the shots of the field from different perspectives. The originator said in his blurb before the video started, that he hoped that this video would interest other fans so that they in turn will make a video of their experiences at games and they could connect through this medium.

If I had been quicker on the draw, I would have typed in a more specific topic, one that was limited to the specific area of sports that I wanted. However, looking at the broad variety of videos in sports, was helpful for a librarian to know what is out there. They would be able to direct a patron to either a wide variety of (in this case sports) videos on their topic, or to the more limited choices of a specific sport/division of the sport videos.

# 19 parade

Just a quick comment: this was pointed out to be one of the possible things that is slowing the system down. Should I spend the time watching it or not? Good question!

# 18 Social Networking

Social networking has quite a variety of possibilities out there. I did see one at least, that I would personally object to. This was a site devoted to the Ocult. It was called "Pagan Space.Net". It was under the Ning heading. I'm sure if I did a more extensive search, there would be others that would be offensive to me, but that was one that I would steer clear of, for sure. I did not get into the "Right Health" site, but it looked like it would have some benefit to me. You can ask health questions, and chat with others about health topics of personal interest. Often getting someone's observations can be helpful, if they are experiencing the same problem or have the same health condition. Their doctor may be using some other medication or procedure that might be able to help you also. As with anything you read, even hard copy from a book, you need to use common sense and make sure it is medically sound. I was a little skeptical about giving out an e-mail address ( therefore personal information) for My Space. I have avoided putting anything on any of the "23 things" that could link back to me personally. I probably would enjoy reading the "Dogster" site, as I enjoy learning about other peoples' pets. However, again, I would hesitate to put information about my pet that could possible refer back to me or my family. I guard our privacy carefully.

# 17 TECHNOLOGY

Obviously most folks are much more comfortable with technology that I am. This entire exercise has pushed me to learn about some of the various aspects of blogging. In fact, whenever we were asked to start this program, I did not have the foggiest notion what a blog was. Sometimes, I still feel that I am in the dark, what with the multitude of terminology that we have been exposed to with each activity. It has been very difficult for me to keep them separated in my mind. (Actually, I haven't!) I've seen the benefit for some of the activities, especially in relation to my job, at the beginning. But, the fact, that circulation assts. are to stay behind the counter, and leave the questions to the Reference desk, has made it difficult for me to see the direct benefit. (I am not to answer those types of questions, so why am I spending my learning hours on this subject. That's the true question for me.) But, I'm here and that is not going to change, so I am trying to get as much out of this experience as I can with my limited knowledge. I have become more accustomed to using the computer to do the limited searches connected with my position behind the counter. This involves, looking up patrons' records, checking shelves against what the records indicate, looking up history for payment and fees incurred and other related items. I'm more comfortable printing out records for various activities, such as pull lists,ect. I've come a long way concidering where I started. And I guess some would say, I've a long way to go.